Amateur Radio, RF & Microwave Engineering
Practical RF and microwave knowledge for radio amateurs — projects, tools, techniques, and detailed notes you won’t find anywhere else.
RF Shack is where I publish my articles on amateur radio, especially microwave operating and construction. If you enjoy technical content, portable microwave operation, or niche RF projects, you’ll find plenty here. I can also host articles from other amateurs who want their work preserved and easily accessible.
Why RF Shack Exists
I’ve written a few microwave articles for Practical Wireless and RadCom to help more amateurs discover just how rewarding the higher bands can be. Over the years I’ve built up a substantial personal notebook of technical information, measurements, and project notes — and in recent years my interest in microwaves has grown into a real passion.
RF Shack is my way of sharing that knowledge with the next generation, while also documenting my own projects and research across the many facets of amateur radio.
As I began writing, I noticed something worrying: many of the best amateur‑radio websites I had relied on had quietly disappeared. These were personal sites full of unique projects and hard‑earned knowledge. Some websites simply closed down and the author of these moved on; others became silent keys. When their sites vanished, so did years of valuable information.
In addition to publishing my own articles, I hope I can offer amateurs a free, stable home for their information and articles, with proper credit (the name and callsign of the author is credited on each post). My hope is that RF Shack becomes a lasting archive — keeping microwave and RF knowledge alive, searchable, and available to future experimenters that can eventually be passed on one day for the next generation of enthusiasts.
Tim - G7KTP
Recent Posts:
SRTM Microwave Path Profile: A Practical Walkthrough
A practical walkthrough for installing the SRTM Path Profile utility, downloading the correct terrain tiles, and generating reliable path plots between two radio sites. Ideal for helping microwave enthusiasts produce accurate terrain profiles
24GHz Noise Figure: How Much Does an LNA Really Help on Tropo?
An LNA can cut your 24GHz noise figure significantly — so why did it only buy me 2–3dB of real SNR on tropo? The answer was in the troposphere, not the receiver.
Building the G3PHO Dual Mode Feedhorn for 10GHz
A step-by-step guide to building the G3PHO dual-mode feedhorn for 10GHz using copper plumbing fittings, with the SMA coax-fed version and a calculator to check your dish’s f/D.